The study of 2,100 men, published in the journal Cancer Causes Control, also found those exposed to the chemicals such as hydrazine, benzene and trichloroethylene were more likely to develop prostate cancer than those in a control group.

"The message from this study for today is that is you're more active, you may be able to prevent this cancer from happening," study senior author Beate Ritz of the University of California, Los Angeles Jonsson Cancer Center said in a statement. "If you have a desk job, do something physically active to counterbalance it."

The UCLA researchers in conjunction with the Olive View-UCLA Education and Research Institute and the University of Michigan constructed a job exposure matrix that included required physical activity and possibly harmful exposures for workers of the Rocketdyne company from the 1950s to the early 1990s. Prostate cancer was diagnosed between January 1988 and December 1999.

Men with low physical activity jobs were managers, supervisors, analysts, administrators and senior engineers. Masons and bricklayers, metal fitters, welders, packers, painters, tool and die makers, truck drivers, lift operators and janitors were considered highly physically active jobs.